A new report from British Columbia’s representative for children and youth, reviews progress on 148 recommendations to government over six years and finds B.C. has repeatedly ignored calls to take action on child poverty, domestic violence and Aboriginal children in care. She called the progress made on these social issues “dim and slow”. “We’re asking for a sensible policy and a strategy,”…

Wet’suwet’en Nation Elders worked with Simon Fraser University and Russian Academy of Science researchers to name a new fossil species. The green lacewing insect fossil, found in Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park near Smithers, is now known as Archaeochrysa sanikwa.

“The Wet’suwet’en word sanikwa refers to the transformation of insects and suggests the appearance of this very ancient…

You’re outta here, said the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, returning a $25,000 cheque to the province, a down payment on capacity funding for the Pacific Trail pipeline.

In seeking support for the pipeline that will bring natural gas to Kitimat for a planned LNG plant, BC’s Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation department drew a line between the capacity funding and ongoing support…

Tales drawn from 5,000 years of existence are woven together through audio, visual and modern technology to breathe life into the colorful history of the Musqueam First Nation community.

The Musqueam, Museum of Vancouver and the Museum of Anthropology have partnered on a series of three distinct exhibitions, opening simultaneously this coming January known as c–YsnaîYm The City Before…

On the morning of Oct. 17, the Canadian Coast Guard contacted the Council of the Haida Nation to mobilize vessels to assist with a marine emergency. A 135-metre Russian registered container had lost power and was drifting 12 miles off the coast of Gowgaia Bay carrying 500 metric tonnes of bunker fuel and 60 metric tonnes of diesel. Based on calculations, the ship could run aground within nine…

Hupacasath First Nation is shocked and disappointed that the federal government has ratified the foreign investment treaty with China, considering the matter is still before a Canadian court to decide if government should have consulted on the controversial 31-year agreement with the nation first. The Canada-China FIPA will come into effect on Oct. 1. “The Canada-China FIPA will help ensure…

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers cancelled meetings with the Terrace City Council and the Terrace Chamber of Commerce, because the representatives the company had sent for the meetings wouldn’t be able to answer questions from people who had planned protests. “We have been focused most recently on LNG and the natural gas value chain. That’s what we were prepared to speak to…

if Burnaby City Council delays survey work on Burnaby Mountain. The city is seeking an injunction to stop the survey work in the conservation area. The company wants the National Energy Board to force the city to allow the work. “This work is planned and necessary in order to meet the deadlines from the National Energy Board,” said Kinder Morgan spokesperson Ali Hounsell. “We have to…

RCMP Const. Andrew Curtis says an important historical mask was stolen from a shed in Alert Bay on Cormorant Island off the northern tip of Vancouver Island. The piece depicts the supernatural bird Huxhukw, and is one of three bird masks used by the Kwakwaka’wakw peoples during winter ceremonies. RCMP are concerned that the thief will attempt to sell the mask to a private collector or gallery…

Westbank First Nations will co-manage the new Black Mountain/Sntsk’il’ntYn Regional Park with the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The 1,260-acre park runs from Tower Ranch through to Highway 33. Sntsk’il’ntYn is a syilx/Okanagan word that means†“the place where arrowheads/flint rock is found”. The area was important to First Nations for gathering tools. It has four sensitive ecosystems…

The Okanagan Nation Alliance and the Arrow Lakes Tribe of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville reservation in Washington took responsibility for the reburial of 10,000-year-old bones considered to be remains of an ancestor to the Sinixt people, considered extinct in Canada. First Nations gathered on the banks of the Kootenay River for the burial. The remains were found in February and sent…

It was described as a historic meeting of First Nations leaders, the Premier of British Columbia, Christy Clark, and her Cabinet, who gathered Sept. 11 to “dialogue” on transforming the First Nations-Crown relationship.

The meeting was spurred on by the new legal landscape facing the province since the Supreme Court of Canada decision in the Tsilhqot’in case which recognized, for the…

The T’Sou-ke First Nation continues to implement its 100-year vision for its 250-member community with a new business. Three greenhouses are growing wasabi seedlings over the next 15 months. The Pacific Coast Wasabi enterprise will help the community achieve economic self-sufficiency. T’Sou-ke Nation is located on 67 hectares near Victoria on Vancouver Island. T’Sou-ke has been going green in…

A small piece of land located in the Grange Harbour at Salt Spring Island is causing big headaches to the developers of Grace Islet. First Nations want it protected because it is a burial place, but the private property owner has begun constructing a home there. “First Nations heritage sites, burial site and sacred sites continue to be desecrated and destroyed,” said Grand Chief Stewart…

Nuxalk Chief Wally Webber is happy that a traditional mask that was used as a Super Bowl wager by the Seattle Art Museum will be used in Bella Coola for a potlatch in September. It’s only a temporary visit back to the community, however. The ceremonial mask was used for the wager in January, because it was reminiscent of the Seattle Seahawk’s logo, said the museum. Depending on the outcome of…